New Delhi, March 22 -- Arrested Kannada actress Ranya Rao and her associate Tarun Konduru Raju were cheated of Rs.2 crore by a Ugandan gold agent who had assured them of a direct supply of the precious metal from Africa, before they could buy gold in Dubai and smuggle it to India, officials familiar with the matter said on Saturday, quoting from the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) charge sheet in the gold smuggling case. Rao and Raju had sought help from Kenyan officials on the fraud before deciding against sourcing gold directly from Africa, the officials added, requesting anonymity. On March 3, 2025, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials had intercepted Ranya Rao, stepdaughter of senior IPS officer K Ramachandra Rao, at Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru on her arrival from Dubai allegedly with a consignment of 14.213 kg of gold, valued at Rs.12.56 crore, concealed on her body. The Central Bureau of Investigation registered an FIR the same month, while ED launched a parallel money-laundering probe in the case and attached assets worth Rs.34.12 crore held in the name of Rao. On February 25, ED submitted a prosecution complaint, equivalent to a charge sheet, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Rao, Raju, and hawala dealer Sahil Sakariya Jain before a Bengaluru court. The agency alleged that the syndicate smuggled over 127 kg of gold valued at Rs.102 crore between March 2024 and March 2025. The gold was later sold in the domestic market through a network of handlers and jewellers, it claimed. An official quoting the charge sheet said the probe revealed that Rao and Raju first attempted the gold trade by sourcing it "from suppliers in African nations such as Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, using Dubai as a transit and trading hub". They opened a company called Vira Diamonds Trading LLC in Dubai in 2023 to facilitatethe import of precious metals, with Raju as equal partner. "They were advised that African mines were the primary source of gold for Dubai's markets so they attempted to directly procure it from Africa. They engaged a Uganda-based agent, Ben, agreeing to an initial 5 kg trial (to be followed by a 50 kg contract) for which they signed a contract and paid approximately $25,000 upfront, followed by two tranches of approx $10,000 each for purported taxes and fees," the official said. When no gold was delivered, Raju travelled to Kampala on January 1, 2024 to meet the agent. "There, at a refinery, Raju was shown gold and asked for an additional payment of Rs.1.70 crore to release the consignment. Rao was coordinating from Dubai to arrange cash and hand it over to Ben's associate in Dubai," the official said. "Raju eventually discovered that it was a scam, resulting in a loss exceeding Rs.2 crore." ED has claimed in the charge sheet that WhatsApp chats recovered from the accused suggest that payments were made to African suppliers, but it "doesn't have material evidence to substantiate the alleged scam" with them, a second official said. "In one WhatsApp exchange with contact 'Ben EGR' (Uganda), Ranya explicitly inquired about the receipt of $110,000 and the return of $210,000, indicating that substantial sums had been advanced for gold purchases," the official added. The agency claimed that Rao and Raju had to abort a similar venture in Kenya and that Raju had even sought help from Kenyan officials regarding the fraud, officials said. After getting duped in Uganda and a similar abortive venture in Kenya, Rao and Raju shifted their strategy, a third official said. "Rather than importing directly from African mines, they began purchasing gold within Dubai's local market from African dealers based in the Deira gold souk. By early 2024, they connected with African gold dealers in Dubai who offered limited quantities at discounts, essentially tapping into African-origin gold that had already reached Dubai. These Dubai-based suppliers insisted on cash payments and refused bank transfers, as is common in illicit bullion trades. Rao, who managed the finances, accordingly arranged large cash sums in Dubai's currency (AED) to buy gold from such dealers," the official added. After procuring gold in Dubai, Rao and Raju "developed a sophisticated method to illicitly transport the gold into India while evading customs detection", the official said, quoting the charge sheet. "Raju, a US passport holder, would pose as an exporter of gold out of Dubai to a third country (such as Switzerland or Thailand) by filing false customs declarations with Dubai Customs. In reality, these declarations were to deceive the authorities - the gold was never meant to leave for the declared destination but instead was handed over to Rao at Dubai airport to be smuggled into India," the third official said. Using his US passport (which allows visa-free travel to many countries), Raju purchased airline tickets to places like Geneva or Bangkok, with no intention to use beyond the Dubai check point, according to the ED charge sheet, as told by the official. "These bookings, often made by Rao using her American Express card, were solely to satisfy Dubai Customs that the gold was being legally exported," the official added. ED has documented a total 15 trips of Rao from Dubai to India between March 2024 and March 2025 to smuggle 127.87 kg of gold. It has also elaborated in the charge sheet the misuse of airport protocol, meant for VIPs, by Rao. "Once Ranya Rao and Tarun Raju landed in India, the conspiracy extended to evading Indian customs checks. Being the daughter of a senior Karnataka police official, Rao leveraged her family connections to obtain protocol assistance at Bengaluru airport. A head constable posted at the airport, acted as Ranya's escort on multiple occasions, helping her bypass normal customs screening," the second official said, quoting from the ED charge sheet....